Josh Merchant Named Second Team All-NEC

11/10/05 -- Freshman midfielder Josh Merchant (New Orleans, La.) was named to the All-Northeast Conference second team, as announced today.

On a young Blackbird team dominated by freshmen, none made his presence felt more than Merchant, who contributed three goals and four assists in his first collegiate season.

In a match the Blackbirds needed to win to keep their conference tournament hopes alive, Merchant was the star as he tallied two goals and registered an assist in a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over Robert Morris on Nov. 4.

After giving LIU an early 2-1 advantage, Merchant took a feed from classmate Mohammed Mashriqi (Flushing, N.Y.) on the left wing. With just over two minutes remaining in overtime, the frosh fired a perfect shot from 30 yards out that ricocheted off the right post and found the back of the net.

Out of the 22 goals scored on the season by the Blackbirds, 17 were recorded by freshmen.